Sixties
Citypresents
a wide-ranging series of
articles on all aspects of the Sixties, penned by the creator of the iconic
60s music paper Mersey
Beat

A 1967
coming-of-age movie about a 17 year-old grammar school sixth former, Jamie
McGregor, a teenager living in the new town of Stevenage in the late Sixties,
eager for his first sexual encounter. Stevenage was the first British post-war
town and there were around 30 such 'new' towns being built in Britain at
the time. Author Hunter Davis' novel, first published by Heinemann in 1965,
was actually set in Cumbria. However, director Clive Donner wanted to set
the filming within 30 miles of London as he would have had to pay the crew
overnight allowances for filming further than 30 miles outside of the capital.
Donner had already found box office success with another 'youth' film 'Some
People'. It's interesting to note that Hunter met Paul McCartney in order
to discuss the possibility of Paul writing the movie's theme song. While
they were talking about it, Hunter asked if he would be able to write a
biography of The Beatles. Since so much inaccurate information about the
group had been published, Paul liked the idea and suggested he ask their
manager Brian Epstein, which he did, resulting in him becoming The Beatles'
official biographer. It has been said that Hunter was inspired by J. D .Salinger's
'The Catcher in the Rye' when he wrote it and Hunter also penned the movie
script.

The film featured songs by a relatively new group from Birmingham, 'The
Spencer Davis Group', who also appear in the film performing in a scene
set in a Stevenage church social. The title song was performed by 'Traffic',
who comprised Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. The
album 'Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush' by The Spencer Davis Group /
Traffic, was released in 1968 on United Artists UAS 5175. The tracks include
the title song 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush' by Traffic, who also
perform 'Utterly Simple' and 'Am I What I Was I Was I What I Am'. Andy Ellison
provided 'It's Been A Long Time' and the rest of the tracks were performed
by The Spencer Davis Group:- 'Taking Out Time', 'Every Little Thing', 'Virginals
Dream', 'Looking Back', 'Picture of Her', 'Just Like Me', 'Waltz For Caroline'
and 'Possession'. Paul McCartney commissioned footage of Traffic performing
the number which he considered including in the Beatles film 'Magical Mystery
Tour'. It ended up on the cutting room floor but was later included on the
2012 DVD Blue Ray release of the 'Magical Mystery Tour' film.

In the
movie, Jamie delivers groceries for a local supermarket on Saturdays, but
his entire focus is on losing his virginity, resulting in his dating a series
of girls. Although his dream girl is the beautiful blonde Mary Gloucester
(Judy Geeson), the self-conscious youth believes she's out of his league
and, instead, dates a girl called Linda (Adrienne Posta) who is rather vacuous.
He drops her when he spots Mary at a bus stop. His next date is with a churchgoing
girl called Paula (Sheila White), who encourages him to take part in a church
social in which he ends up playing the King of the Fairies in a play for
children. After noticing Mary in a car with a man, Jamie teams up with some
mates to visit a gambling club where he meets Caroline (Angela Scoular),
an upper-class, spoilt girl who offers to teach him golf. He is invited
to spend the weekend at her house where he encounters her father, who is
an alcoholic, and her mother who is a snob. In the night, after fantasising
that he and Caroline are naked, he creeps into Caroline's room, but she
passes out on him. His next brief affair is with Audrey (Vanessa Howard),
who invites him to a party where he finally loses his virginity with her.
He notices Mary at the party, drops Audrey and walks home with Mary, who
tells him she has always fancied him, so they make a date for the next day
when they decide to spend the weekend together at the coast. The couple
make love and go skinny-dipping, but Jamie becomes despondent when one of
her old boyfriends turns up and Mary tells Jamie that although she likes
him, she wants to be free to go out with other men. The girl who seemed
to be his ideal now seems to be something of a flirt and he begins to lose
interest.

Together with his friend Spike, Jamie wins a place at university, although
Mary fails the exams. Jamie learns that Mary's friend Claire (Diane Keen)
will be going to his university and he realises that he is attracted to
her. The film features several mini-skirted dolly birds in 'Swinging London'
fashions, by Ossie Clarke and Foale & Tuffin, and contains rather awful
lines such as "This is how the world ends, not with a bang but with a Wimpy"
and "What about the starving goats in China? Don't they matter?". There
are scenes in which the character of Jamie talks to the camera, similar
to Michael Caine in 'Alfie', plus dream sequences in which he imagines himself
as a 'James Bond' character. Labour M.P. Steve Pound was to reveal he appeared
in the movie, commenting, "I appear twice in this film. Once at the then
Stevenage Locarno where I am seen in the crowd watching The Spencer Davis
Group, and latterly as a nimble bus driver - with the sun glinting on my
flowing auburn locks, a fag in my mouth and a copy of 'Labour Weekly' sticking
out of my back pocket".

Barry
Evans was having a relationship with Judy Geeson at the time of filming.
Evans had been abandoned as a baby and became a Barnardo's orphan. He was
to win a Gielgud Scholarship to The Central School of Speech and Drama.
However, his acting skills were never really tested as he was typecast as
a rather bland, but pleasant young man in an all too brief acting career.
He starred in the 1969 London Weekend Television series 'Doctor in the House'
and its follow-up 'Doctor at Large'. He also featured in the popular TV
sitcom 'Mind Your Language'. Ironically, he starred in the 1976 film 'Adventures
of a Taxi Driver' and was later to end up working as a mini-cab driver in
Leicester.

He had been unemployed when police found him dead in his bungalow, in February
1996, in suspicious circumstances - he had been struck by a blow to the
head. He was cremated, but his ashes subsequently disappeared and their
whereabouts are unknown. Tragedy was also to stalk the life of Angela Scoular,
who appeared with Evans in 'Adventures of a Taxi Driver'. She also played
Bond girls in 'Casino Royale' and 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'. Angela
married actor Leslie Phillips but was beset by depression and slashed her
wrists in a suicide attempt. She also suffered from colorectal cancer and
died in April 2011 after drinking acid drain cleaner which she had also
poured over her body. The coroner established that she had been on medication
for bipolar disorder, was an alcoholic and suffered from depression over
financial debts.

Bill
Harryattended
the Liverpool College of Art with Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon and made
the arrangements for Brian Epstein to visit The Cavern, where he saw The
Beatles for the first time. Bill was a member of 'The Dissenters' and the
founder and editor of 'Mersey Beat', the iconic weekly music newspaper
that documented the early Sixties music scene in the Liverpool area and
is possibly best known for being the first periodical to feature a local
band called 'The Beatles'. He has worked as a high powered publicist, doing
PR for acts such as Suzi Quatro, Free, The Arrows and Hot Chocolate and
has managed press campaigns for record labels such as CBS, EMI, Polydor.
Bill is the critically acclaimed author of a large number of books about
The Beatles and the 60s era including 'The Beatles Who's Who', 'The Best
Years of the Beatles' and the Fab Four's 'Encyclopedia' series. He has appeared
on 'Good Morning America' and has received a Gold Award from the British
Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.